Notorious
by nebula2
Summary: One-shot. Post "Revelations". Waiting at the hospital for word on Reid, Emily offers Morgan some support. Written for the Silver Screen challenge at CCOAC.


_AN: Written for CCOAC's silver screen challenge. This is a pinch hit for Little Tayy. Pairing was Emily/Morgan and the movie was Notorious. Thanks to peanutmeg for helping me brainstorm the idea. I don't feel its up to my usual efforts but its been a trying last few days. Hope you all enjoy it!_

_Disclaimer: Criminal minds and it's characters do not belong to me_

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><p>Emily Prentiss stretched her legs out in front of her, trying to get comfortable in the straight-backed chair. It was a losing battle and she knew it. Waiting room chairs were never comfortable and given the lack of sleep and the emotional ringer that she and the other members of her team had been through the last couple of days, they were even more so. She was feeling aches in places she had never knew could hurt before.<p>

~_Though I'm sure Reid is feeling much worse than me_, ~ Prentiss thought, thinking about her teammate, who was the reason they were sitting around the waiting room.

Or, well most of her team were in the waiting room. Hotch had left to call Haley, though Prentiss figured the unit chief wasn't any further than just outside the hospital's front door. Gideon hadn't hung around the waiting room long. Prentiss had heard the older agent saying something about starting on paperwork and telling Hotch to call him once they knew anything before leaving. The dark-haired profiler had a feeling the senior agent was not dealing with the situation well, and given the close father-son relationship she had observed between Gideon and Reid that didn't surprise her.

As for the teammates still in the room with her, JJ was in a chair not far away, knees drawn up close, and a blanket draped over her shoulders. Garcia sat in the chair next to her, one hand resting on her blonde teammate's shoulder. Morgan was pacing the perimeter of the room, his face a storm cloud of emotions. Prentiss had no doubt that if Tobias hadn't been dead, killed by Reid, with the lone bullet that the delusional killer had left in the gun, Morgan would have attempted to kill him with his bare hands. Even now, the dark-skinned profiler was given off the vibe of a cobra ready to strike. Looking at him pace the room, Prentiss could see how the stories of him being a notorious hothead had gotten around the bureau. Having worked with him for a few months now, Prentiss knew there was more to him than that.

A loud bang caused her and the other two women in the room to jump and then look in Morgan's direction. The dark-skinned profiler was now standing with his arm against the wall, head leaning against his forearm. Prentiss assumed the bang had been Morgan punching the wall, much as he had punched the door in Hankle's home after the first time they had seen Reid on the computer screen.

Giving up her futile attempts to get comfortable, Prentiss got to her feet and walked in Morgan's direction. She walked slowly, feeling nervous. Though he was suave and charming most of the time, Prentiss had to admit that there were times that Derek Morgan scared her and she had seen a lot of that side of him these past couple of days. Giving that he had just punched the wall she was willing to bet suave and charming would not be used to describe him right now, but then none of them could be accused of being rays of sunshine right now, not even the normally upbeat Garcia.

"Morgan?" Prentiss said softly, coming up beside him. She wanted to reach out and place a reassuring hand on his shoulder but she held back. She hadn't worked with him long enough to feel comfortable to show even that kind of physical contact, just like she hadn't felt comfortable enough to hug Reid in the cemetery despite the relief she felt at finding him._ ~Nor did Morgan hug Reid, despite how relieved he had looked that they had found him,_ ~ Prentiss noted. Watching him, she had been sure Morgan would embrace the younger agent, but he had held back, despite being the one to go back and eventually help Reid walk from the graveyard. "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" Morgan replied in a clipped tone, suddenly standing up straight.

Prentiss involuntarily took a step back from him. She knew he would never hurt her or anyone else on the team, but the storm cloud of emotions visible on his face right now was making her a bit uneasy.

"Okay - bad question," Prentiss conceded. "Want to talk about it?"

"What's to talk about? You saw Reid - you saw what that bastard did to him and now I'm stuck here waiting - still unable to do anything to help him! And then he had to shoot Hankle himself," Morgan said shaking his slowly. He paused before continuing. "I know him Emily. I know that is going to haunt him for a while even though he _had _to do it. I couldn't even spare him that."

"You can't change that, Morgan" Prentiss said softly. "Let the guilt go. It's not going to do you or Reid any good. Let it go and focus on how we can help him from this point on."

Morgan looked straight at her and Prentiss saw none of the usual confidence that usually surrounded him. In that moment, her normally overly protective teammate looked vulnerable. It was the first time she had seen that side of him in the short time she had known him.

"I have no clue how to do that," Morgan finally admitted to her, his words were soft and barely audible.

"You'll figure it out. I know you will," Prentiss said, her voice conveying a confidence that she didn't really feel. "And you're not alone in this. You've got the team to help you. We're going to be there for both of you, just like you'll be there for us. We're a team, right?"

Morgan allowed himself a small smile and nodded just as a doctor stepped into the waiting room.

"Agent Reid?" the doctor said, as he looked around the room at everyone there.

All attention turned to the doctor just as Hotch came up behind him, just getting back from making his phone call. The waiting was finally over.


End file.
